Taking place online, this year’s Africa Proptech Forum Virtual, is one-full day of live presentations and panel discussions, networking and engagement, for the continent’s growing Proptech community.
Hosted by the API Summit Virtual and lead sponsor, Nedbank CIB, the free to attend virtual forum will be held on September 29, 2020 and will connect Africa’s most impactful real estate investor community with its emerging technology and innovation sectors.
This year’s event will provide a platform for investors, start-ups and practitioners to meet, present and share insights on how Proptech applications are accelerating across the real estate sector.
According to the forum’s host, API Events’ Kfir Rusin, Property Technology (Proptech) is one of the sectors predicted to emerge stronger post COVID-19.
Rusin said: “This period of enforced digital uptake and dependency as well as remote working will accelerate adoption and innovation in the Proptech space both globally and in Africa. Already gaining momentum over the past couple of years, property technology will take centre stage both in the immediate interventions needed as a result of COVID-19 as well as the mid-to-long term plans for all property related stakeholders and businesses.”
As the Lead sponsor for this year’s Africa Proptech Forum, Nedbank CIB’s Genevie Naidoo, Divisional Executive: Property Finance Project Management and Valuation, said Proptech is a niche and growing sub-sector within the African Real Estate Sector and Nedbank CIB’s sponsorship of the Africa Proptech Forum provides both an opportunity and value for its clients.
“The world we live in now is significantly different to the world we existed in just a few months ago. Nedbank CIB sees the opportunity and benefit that Proptech can provide in the real estate value chain not just for ourselves but for our clients who are at the heart of our business. We are not in Kansas anymore and we see tech as really being the spine of our business and tech drives a client experience. The crisis has catapulted the tech journey. We believe that adopting the right technologies and with our great people really provides a winning formula,” said Naidoo.
According to a recent report ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on African Real Estate’ published by API Events, one of the key outcomes arising from the pandemic from a Proptech perspective is that the market will see an acceleration in the adoption and uptake of property technology across the continent.
Naidoo said this is inevitable with Facilities Management and Property Management being the early drivers.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has definitely catapulted us into a very unknown, unfamiliar territory where property has seen a fairly decent past two decades, however, we are now faced with a very different landscape. There are so many uncertainties in the market and consumer behaviours are vastly different and not as predictable as in the past. The battle of the traditionalist versus the modernists, the business-as-usual past vs reimagining the future, but more importantly, a new and exciting way to watch property evolve,” he said. “Without a doubt, its uncomfortable for all of us, the property market has never been at the forefront of ground-breaking tech. We have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves, and reimagine a new world and shift focus.
According to Naidoo, facilities and property management are low hanging fruit and the sector will see the new landscape unfolding and needs to be agile enough to figure out how to respond well.
“We know that contactless environments will be more prevalent, we know that health, hygiene and safety is going to be a key determinant of what space occupiers are looking for, we know that we are moving into a more sustainable era where we have to be kinder to the planet. How do we ‘solutionise’ for this and how do we think differently,” he asked? Rusin added that: “We have seen how Africa has adopted technology to leapfrog over its historical challenges and we believe the use of Proptech is only going to accelerate post COVID-19.”
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